Harvard University in the US has retained its title as the world’s top academic powerhouse for the sixth year running, in a ranking of the top 200 universities in the world. But in the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, published on 8 October, Yale University slipped to third place, being overtaken by the UK’s University of Cambridge.

The UK claimed four of the top six spots, with University College London moving up from 7th place in 2008 to 4th this year. The University of Oxford and Imperial College London jointly took fifth place. US universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in ninth place, fill the next ten places.

The best performing university outside the US and UK was the Australian National University, which dropped one place to 17th from last year.

Institutions in Asian countries showed they are gaining strength. Mainland China maintained its position with six institutions in the top 200. This year South Korea has four institutions in the rankings compared with three last year. Seoul National University took 47th place, up from 50th last year. This year is the first time since 2004 that a Korean university has ranked among the top 50 institutions in the world, the Chosun IIbo reports.

Other nations were not as happy with their performance. The Austrian Association of Students at Institutions of Higher Education criticized the nation’s performance as it only had one university in the top 200. Sigrid Maurer, who sits on the association’s board, told the Austrian Times, “We need more professors, not fewer, if we are to improve our international rankings.” She claimed Austrian universities were being starved financially.

Israeli universities’ performance also slipped this year, with the Hebrew University falling to 102nd place, from 93rd in 2008. (Haaretz)

Wendy Piatt, director-general of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities in the UK, told the Times Higher that, “China and Korea, which are investing massively in their best institutions, are snapping at our heels. There is no mistaking the alarm bell warning that our success is at risk if we as a nation don’t take action to fight off such fierce competition.”